Page 431 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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MUHARRAQ MUNICIPALITY
(From the Report of Mr. Ibrahim Khalfan, Secretary to the Muharraq Municipal Council).
Municipal Election.—In Jamada Al Awal (February 1952) the Municipal Council was
dissolved and an election was held under a new system. There was a certain amount of
objection by members and prospective members to the new arrangement but eventually it was
carried out. Unfortunately the general public, for whose benefit any improvements in the
system of elections arc intended, take very little interest in the whole affair. Half of the
Council consists of members who arc nominated by the Government, the other half being
elected by the public.
The town was divided into four wards. Each Ward was represented by two members
elected from those persons who volunteered to stand for election. Names of voters in each
Ward were displayed on notice boards for a fortnight before the date of the election, during
this period any persons who were not on the list could apply to have their names included.
On the day of the election voters attended the polling stations in each of the four wards. They
received ballot papers with the names of the persons who offered themselves for election
printed upon them. Each voter made a mark against the name of the person he wished to
vote for and then placed his paper in the ballot box. The polling stations were supervised by
Police Officers, and the voting papers were counted by a committee appointed by the Govern­
ment.

Under the new arrangement Government nominees retire after two years and half of the
elected members retire yearly and arc replaced by new elected members.

The new Council consisted of 11 members who had not sat before and five members who
had previously held seats on the Council. Among the nominated members was Shaikh Isa,
the eldest son of the Ruler, who during the absence in the Lebanon of his uncle, Shaikh Abdulla
bin Hamed, acted as President of the Council.

The Council met 27 times and committees met 59 times.
Finance.—Owing to an increase in revenue, due to a larger Government subsidy and to a
higher income from Municipal taxes, and a reduction in expenditure there was a surplus of
Rs. 9,700/- at the end of the year. The Council had allocated 1 lakh in the budget to be spent
on widening Shara al Khalifah and in doing this they anticipated a large deficit. The Govern­
ment pointed out to the Council that they should not plan to spend a large sum of money,
which exceeded the revenue by almost half their income, on an unessential project.
Revenue from house taxes increased by almost Rs. 7,000/-, the income from shops was the
same as in the previous year. Rents of Municipal property was Rs. 4,000/- higher, taxes on
wood, sheep, etc., which are shared between the two Municipalities, produced an additional
Rs. 3,000/-. The total revenue was Rs. 2,49,573/- as against Rs. 2,39,865/- in 1370.

Municipal Activities.—The most important work and the largest item in the budget is
town cleaning. At the beginning of the year the Council decided to hand over this work to a
local contractor who was to provide carts and labour to remove the contents of the dust bins.
One Abdul Husain Bushiri, a Bahrain subject of Persian origin, took the contract for Rs. 36,900/-
After a few months it was found that the arrangement was unsatisfactory and the contract was
terminated.
Work was continued on widening Shara Al Khalifah, which is the principal road leading
through the town. Over Rs. 13,000/- was spent in compensation to people whose houses were
cut, a further Rs. 12,000/- was spent on widening other streets and corners.
A new bus stand was made at the Muharraq terminal of the causeway, a piece of ground
reclaimed from the sea was used for this purpose, previously dhow cargoes were discharged
here. A new landing place for dhows was made by filling in more sea on the west side of the
sea road.